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This is probably the easiest large group game ever invented. If you can think of an easier one, please let me know in the comments.

Heads or Tails!

This game of heads or tails involves EVERYONE in your large group. It is actually better the larger the group gets. There is an elimination factor to it, so that you are left with only one winner. But the eliminating happens so fast that the people waiting to play the next round don’t have to wait long.

What you need: A lot of people and one coin (I like to use a quarter).

How to play: Have everyone stand up. Tell them that they need to select heads or tails before you flip the coin each time you flip it. They indicate heads by putting both hands on their head. They indicate tails by putting both hands on their rear. Whatever the coin says, those people stay in the game and advance to the next flip. The eliminated people (their side did NOT flip) must sit down and wait for the next game. Repeat this over and over until you are left with one final winner.

Tips:

Don’t worry, this game moves fast.

Before you flip, say “ONE-TWO-THREE-Lock it in!” so that the players all lock in their heads or tails at the same time.

No switching selection after you say “lock it in!” If a player does so, they’re out.

Let the winner be the coin flipper for the game after they win.

Kids want to play this game ALL DAY LONG. You’ll be surprised at how crazy easy it is.

A few miles north of Waco, Texas, just off of Interstate 35, sits a Shell gas station and convenience store that looks like any other gas station except for one thing: the line for the convenience store bakery is almost always fifty people deep.

That’s because the bakery, called the Czech Stop, specializes in a little piece of heaven called the kolache.

One summer a few years ago, I was speaking at a Christian camp nearby. Someone from the camp staff declared they were making a “kolache run” and wanted everybody’s order. I had no clue what they were talking about.

“You definitely have to try a kolache, Jesse. It will change your life,” they insisted.

Change my life? The word itself sounded so foreign to me that I didn’t even know what to expect. Was it a donut? Was it some type of specialty drink? Regardless, I told them to surprise me and get whatever everyone else was getting.

Thirty minutes later they returned. The staff member handed me something warm wrapped in wax paper about the size of a softball.

I was tasting something I had never tasted before. It was a wonderful, mouth-watering experience – something I had never experienced before but now I knew I could have it all over again in the days ahead. It was even large enough to enjoy over half a dozen slow and thoughtful bites.

I was ruined. Now, every time I pass through the Waco area, I have to stop and get me one (or two or three) kolaches. They even come in all sorts of different flavors and fillings. Furthermore, I have become a kolache evangelist, much like the staff member who introduced me to them. Sometimes I come across other kolache lovers and we have a good chat about one of our shared favorite foods.

You know who is better than kolaches? Even infinity times better?

God.

King David challenges us in Psalm 34 to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). I love how David mixes two of our five senses (taste and sight) in his song. It’s as if David is saying that experiencing God goes beyond our physical senses and into our spiritual senses – because God is Spirit (John 4:24).

David is like my friend in Texas who told me about a food I had never heard of, knowing that it would change my life if I would just taste it.

When we step out in faith and know God, taste His goodness, experience Him personally, trust Him with our whole selves, we will never be let down. We will see that the LORD is good every single time. This is a promise of God’s Word.

My wife and I struggled with infertility for the first seven years of our marriage. It was hard. We cried a lot – especially when others would tell us that we would make good parents and ask us when we were going to have children. We held the pain inside for many years, not sharing our struggle or pain with anyone but one another.

Then finally one day, we released our pain to God. We shared our infertility story with our close family and friends and asked for their prayers. We had been holding on to our pain without handing it over to God as a prayer request.

You know what happened? About two weeks later, we got pregnant with our first of two miracle daughters, Keziah Grace.

For many years, we were not tasting the goodness of the Lord in that area of our lives. We failed to hand the pain over to Him. When we did, he answered our prayers and delivered a miracle.

I understand that is not the case and story for everyone who struggles with infertility. Every couples’ story and journey is different. There is no perfect formula that says “prayer = miracle baby.” That is simply our story and how God answered our prayers when we finally lifted them up to Him.

But I do believe that whatever the particular story or journey God leads us on, the promise of God is “taste and see = the goodness of the Lord.” Taste and see that God is good. Trust Him with the things in your life that you have never given to him. Trust Him with the things you are holding back. And watch His goodness happen in the creative way that He does in your story.

I believe the words and titles we use for things convey messages of value. That’s how language works. For example, take “wedding ceremony” versus “wedding celebration.” Both terms tell people that a wedding is happening, but the first phrase sends messages of formality, tradition, and even the sacredness of it. The second phrase sends the message that this wedding is a fun, celebratory, party. Now, in this case, I don’t necessarily think one way is right and one way is wrong. I’m just saying that the words we use send messages of what we value to others.

Now take ministry with children on Sunday mornings at churches. Some people call it “children’s church” while others call it “nursery” or “kid church.” I have even seen it called “childcare.”

This is where I have a strong opinion about naming the programs for children at churches. If we call it “childcare,” we are sending the message to everyone that the Sunday morning church services are really about the adults and that children are secondary. Of course we care for the children on Sunday and there is something very spiritual and God-glorifying about that. But I think there are other terms that can convey a stronger meaning about what’s really important for the body of believers when they gather together for worship.

In churches that separate the ages for age-leveled worship (which is another thing I’m not a huge fan of, but I understand that it is the primary model in Western churches), I think the programs for children (for infants and older) should be named in ways that convey the value of children and the fact that they are full participants in the worshipping body of Christ.

Here are some examples that I think are better terms than “childcare” or “babysitting” for Sunday morning services for children. This is definitely not exhaustive. It is merely a sampling of ideas:

Micaiah was under pressure to say something good to King Ahab about his chances in battle. All the other prophets were telling Ahab what he wanted to hear (that he was going to be victorious). Micaiah, though, insisted on only telling Ahab what the Lord was saying, regardless of what everyone else was saying. A timeless reminder to speak the truth of the Lord whether or not it is the popular thing to say at the time. #mvotwyear

I had the privilege of seeing Billy Graham preach at a packed Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati in the summer of 2002. I had just graduated from college with a Bible degree and was preparing to enter seminary later that Fall.

The timing was perfect. As I was training to be a pastor and teacher, God allowed me to witness this lion of a preacher whom God had used to change the lives of millions of people around the globe.

Cincinnati had been reeling from race-related riots when Graham came that summer. He spoke to the issue directly, saying that racial injustice was a “moral and spiritual issue” since God made us and loves us all equally, regardless of the color of our skin (Cincinnati Enquirer, 2002).

Here at the things that struck me most about Billy Graham and have had a lasting impact on how I go about ministry:

Simplicity with Clarity – Billy kept it simple. He preached the Gospel. But it wasn’t watered down. He spoke of the deep theology of God in such a way that a child could understand it. And that method penetrates deep into the heart of my own calling to teach the Bible to children.

Character and Integrity – Billy was a world-famous preacher for 60 years and maintained integrity both financially and in his marriage. He was known to have avoided any situation that would put him in the room alone with a woman other than his wife.

In this tribute to Billy from his organization, they point out that Billy didn’t really die yesterday (according to his own words). He simply changed his address…